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THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 312 August 31, 2020, © 2020 by The Burgenland Bunch All rights reserved. Permission to copy excerpts granted if credit is provided. Editor: Thomas Steichen (email: tj.steichen@comcast.net) BB Home Page: the-burgenland-bunch.org BB Newsletter Archives: BB Newsletter BB Facebook Page: TheBurgenlandBunchOFFICIAL Our 24th year. The Burgenland Bunch Newsletter is issued monthly online. The BB was founded in 1997 by Gerald Berghold, who died in August 2008. |
| Current Status Of The BB: * Members: 2979 * Surname Entries: 9040 * Query Board Entries: 5842 * Staff Members: 13 |
This newsletter concerns: 1) THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER 2) THE WAR IN BURGENLAND (by Joseph Francis Reich) 3) HISTORICAL BB NEWSLETTER ARTICLES: - COMMENTS CONCERNING DUPLICATE RECORDS (by Fritz Königshofer) 4) ETHNIC EVENTS 5) BURGENLAND EMIGRANT OBITUARIES (courtesy of Bob Strauch) |
1) THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER (by Tom Steichen)  Still
wearing my mask... hope you are too!This month's bits and pieces (Article 1) starts out with the comments I received after I asked whether Requests for Help appearing in the BB newsletter were bothersome... apparently not for most who answered. A different kind of request for help is the subject for the next bit, as the Burgenland Landesmuseum is planning an Exhibition for Burgenland's 100th Anniversary... and they want "Objects" from their American migrants. The next two bits are about records... I update you on New Records on FamilySearch and then I provide comments on and a link to Free Online US Court Records. I conclude with our regular tidbit features, the monthly BB Facebook report, book sales and a humor item. Article 2 is about the period in 1921 when the final configuration of Burgenland was being determined. BB member Joe Reich tells us about The War in Burgenland, as the Hungarian resistance to the transfer of Burgenland to Austria led to armed insurgency and full-on military clashes. The remaining articles are our standard sections: Historical Newsletter Articles, (no) Ethnic Events and Emigrant Obituaries.   Requests
For Help: Last month, I ran a tidbit requesting help for a BB member ...but not the usual "help"
related to a genealogical or historical question. Rather, we had a Burgenland descendant with a medical condition where
eventual death can only be averted by a donor kidney. There was also a need for financial help in coping with the associated
high medical costs and the increasing inability to work. I ran the request but added a note saying I recognized that such a
request was out of character for the BB Newsletter and that I was concerned that you may be discomforted by such a message.Given that, I asked for reader responses on whether I should totally prohibit messages like this or continue to publish the rare requests for help from people in our BB community. Of the eight responses I received, five were totally supportive, one supported the main ideas of the request but had a personal dislike of the GoFundMe system, one was concerned I might receive grief for turning down a less-deserving request, and the last was opposed to seeing such requests in the Newsletter, stating there were adequate resources elsewhere for this type of request. With due respect to the one opposing response, I'm going to take the overall response as sufficiently supporting that, should another similar request be made, I will not reject it out of hand... rather I will consider its merits and make a one-off decision whether to publish or not based on the information shared and the perceived need and our ability to help... and I'll deal with it should a requestor disagree with my decision. My thanks to those of you who responded and shared your thoughts.
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2) THE WAR IN BURGENLAND - by Joseph Francis Reich, Colonel, USAF (Ret) Ed note: I expect most of us are aware that there was Hungarian resistance to the transfer of Burgenland to Austria after WW-I, even to the extent of an armed insurgency and military clashes. What may be less well known is that most of the clashes occurred on "traditional" Austrian territory, largely because the Allied Military Control Commission refused to let troops of the Austrian Army enter Burgenland before the new border between Austria and Hungary was officially finalized. This refusal likely was instrumental in the fate of the Sopron/Ödenburg region and the subsequent loss of the city many considered to be the obvious and natural capital of the new Burgenland. Colonel Reich provides the background and walks us through these tense months—months that his grandparents lived through but seldom talked about. He writes...   Charlemagne unleashed his power
eastward to expand the Holy Roman Empire of the German People during the 9th Century and the Celtic Bavarians slowly
moved down into the lower hills of the eastern Alps. In front of them was a tribe known as the Pannonian Avars, along with
Slavic tribes to the north and south. But something unusual happened; there was no tribal warfare. The western side of the
Danubian Plain was wide and sparsely populated, and the Germanic folks slowly mingled into the region the Romans once called
Pannonia. The Avars disappeared over the next century, to be replaced by the Magyars (aka Ungarn or Hungarian) from the
distant Ural Mountains adjacent Asia. Over time, several powerful Hungarian noble families emerged that aligned themselves
with the Austrian Hapsburg dynasty in Vienna. As the holder of the German crown, the Hapsburgs allowed these Hungarian
nobles to control this mixed border region that was growing in Germanic population. Perhaps it was the common faiths, but
the Germans and Hungarians mixed well. This region remained under Hungarian management for the next centuries as regional
politics played out and the Germans continued to move eastward into the Plain. During the Turkish invasion, there were some
Hungarian nationalist uprisings against the dominant, neighboring Hapsburgs, but they disappeared over time.The end of the First German Empire at the hands of Napoleon and the subsequent divorce of the Catholic Hapsburgs from the Protestant Prussians, led the House of Hapsburg to establish rule over its own “eastern empire” led by Hungary and encompassing regional Slavic states. Unrest did ensue, so the “Dual Monarchy” between Vienna and Budapest was established, solidifying Hungarian leadership and Hungarian noble managerial rule over the lands that became Burgenland, now populated 80% by German-speaking families. At the same time, Swabian Germans were populating the towns along the Danube, creating a Danube Swabian community. Empire documents at the turn of the century were in both German and Hungarian and, although the Austro-Hungarian Army was mixed with German and Hungarian officers, the Hungarian people continued to take pride in their unique nationalism. World War I ended it all; the Dual Monarchy, which started the war by declaring war on the state of Serbia following Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination, joined forces with Prussianized Germany… and lost. The post-war Treaty of St. Germaine ordered the dismantling of the Austro-Hungarian Empire into smaller states determined by culture, especially language. The state of Austria emerged; because of politics, it lost German-speaking Sudetenland and South Tyrol (in violation of the intent of the Treaty) but it gained Burgenland, a region it never administered. The new iteration of Hungary, quite reduced in size, was not happy. According to the U.S. military attaché in Budapest, the new Hungarian government decided to infiltrate Burgenland with irregular troops dressed as civilians, eventually crossing over the historic “Austrian” border in an attempt to force negotiations via military action. The Allied Military Control Commission demanded a neutralized Burgenland until the final Austro-Hungarian border was established, so the new Austrian Army was not allowed into it. Instead, Austrian border guards and police were sent to maintain law and order. Therefore, they became the targets of the armed Hungarian insurgents and, during August 1921, terrorism began in northern Burgenland; wounding, killing and capturing of these law keepers occurred daily to pressure Vienna, especially in towns towards Vienna like Siegendorf and St. Margarethen. Down south, the village of Hohenbrugg, just over the border into Styria (and into traditional “Austrian” territory), was attacked. Concurrently came harassment of Burgenland civil officials, teachers and citizens of stature who were ethnic German. This was to have a serious consequence, since it upset the neutral populations.  Noting the failure of civil
authority in Burgenland and to prevent Hungarian infiltration into Austria, the Austria government sent its new Army towards
its traditional eastern borders in Styria and Lower Austria, while the Allied Commission decided to withdraw the
harassed police, which exasperated the terrorism. The Austrians then moved even more soldiers into Styria and Lower Austria
to keep the armed insurgents out, but violence continued. In September, the Hungarians struck in northern Burgenland at
Mattersdorf and Agendorf (then in Burgenland but later returned to Hungary), and at a railroad bridge spanning the Leitha
River between the border villages of Bruck an der Leitha (in Lower Austria) and Bruckneudorf (in Burgenland). In the south,
they attacked the border towns of Kirchschlag (Lower Austria), Sinnersdorf, Worth, Neudau and Burgau (in Styria), and Alhau
(in Burgenland) in hopes of weakening the Austrian resolve. However, the new Austrian Army exceeded expectations and
continually drove off attacks into traditional Austrian territory with high Hungarian casualties. In October, the Allied Commission still refused to allow the Austrian Army into Burgenland, but endorsed the Venice Protocol that established a firm date for the plebiscite in mid-December to determine the final border near Ödenburg (Sopron). Knowing the plebiscite would not meet all of Hungary’s desires, the insurgency continued but now operated by line officers from the Hungarian Army. Attacks on Haideggendorf (Styria), Katzelsdorf (Lower Austria), and Neudörfl (Burgenland) in early November was too much for the Allied Military Control Commission; it invited the Austrian Army into Burgenland and, by December, Burgenland was peacefully occupied and the Army welcomed by a citizenry tired of the terrorism. The insurgents still existed in small pockets on pro-Hungarian farms and harassed the ethnic Germans, but to no avail. The plebiscite was held in mid-December with the majority of the population in the eight smaller “contested” villages voting to join Austria; however, Ödenburg (Sopron) voted 2:1 to join Hungary. It and the adjacent villages (to provide a continuous border) were returned to Hungary. There is a lot of evidence Ödenburg was “infiltrated” by insurgents, students from Budapest, and other non-citizens to throw the vote in Hungary’s favor, but that is now history. Interestingly, my maternal grandparents (Kremsner, Guelli) from Urbersdorf and my paternal grandmother (Koehler, Schmidt) from Gaas never spoke of this insurrection (except for the irregular voting). My paternal grandfather (Reich) was a Danube Swab from the Germanic town of Aka, north of Lake Balaton. Already in the United States, he decided not to return to his farm because of the ongoing Magyarization of the town; he embraced his German heritage that much. Sources Battleground Burgenland (including images). Raymond E Bell (Brig Gen, USA, Ret). Quarterly Journal of Military History, 2004, Vol 16, #4. Lexington, VA: The Society for Military History. Charlemagne: The Legend and the Man. Harold Lamb. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1954. Plus numerous books on German and Austrian History |
3) HISTORICAL BB NEWSLETTER ARTICLES Editor: This is part of our series designed to recycle interesting articles from the BB Newsletters of past years. Twenty years ago, Fritz Königshofer provided the first solid information about the duplicate Burgenland records. That information was valid then and remains useful now; thanks Fritz! THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 86B August 15, 2000 COMMENTS CONCERNING DUPLICATE RECORDS - by Fritz Königshofer As I finally made it through all the Newsletters I had missed during my vacation in Austria, I have some comments on Robert Loerzel's trip report in issue no. 83B. The duplicate parish records were started in Hungary between 1826 and 1828. In contrast, in Styria the same thing happened a bit later, in the 1830s. From those times onwards, a parish had to maintain two books of vital events, the original and the duplicate. The best I can gather is that the duplicates were always closed at the end of each year and submitted to the Diocesan offices for reference and safekeeping. Therefore, the duplicates of the Roman Catholic parishes of what is now southern Burgenland were sent to and kept by the Diocesan Ordinariate in Szombathely [Ed. (Tom): northern Burgenland was part of the Györ Diocese and its records were filed there]. Sometime in the 20th century, the Hungarian government declared the old vital records (up to the introduction of civil recording in October 1895) as state property. Parishes and dioceses had to submit the matrikels to the National Archives in Budapest, where LDS was able to film them. Since the centralization of the records happened after the breakup of the Dual Monarchy, the original parish and civil records of the Burgenland area were out of reach for the Hungarian authorities and, therefore, only the duplicates (from 1828), as originally kept by the Dioceses of Szombathely and Györ, and the duplicates of the civil records, were available to be collected in Budapest (and later be filmed). This explains why the LDS was able to film original matrikels of parishes that had remained part of new Hungary, while only duplicates could be filmed of areas now part of other countries, and only to the extent where the Diocesan offices had remained in Hungary. In cases where both village and Diocesan office were now outside Hungary, no vital records are available anymore within Hungary. Duplicate records will typically only have later marginal entries when the subsequent vital event still happened in the same year (before the duplicate was sent off to the Diocesan office). This is the case when a new-born child died within the same year. However, for places that remained in Hungary, like Pinkamindszent, the LDS has films of the original matrikels, which then can obviously contain marginal entries made many years later, such as remarriages, death or name changes (for example, due Magyarization of the name). I could not agree more with Robert and you (Gerry B.) that it can be very rewarding to access the original matrikels for the reasons given in Robert's trip report and your editorial remarks. As you say, this can, e.g., be an avenue to find out about the father of an illegitimate child, in case this father had later come forward, and/or the legitimatization of a child's birth by later marriage of the parents. |
4) ETHNIC EVENTS (none! ...blame the virus!) LEHIGH VALLEY, PA (none) NEW BRITAIN, CT (none) ST. LOUIS, MO (none) UPPER MIDWEST (none) |
5) BURGENLAND EMIGRANT OBITUARIES Rose Linda Walliser (née Seper)  It is with profound sadness that the family of Rose Linda Walliser of Bienfait, Saskatchewan, Canada announces her passing on July 21, 2020 at the age of 91 years. Predeceased by her husband Ralph and her parents, Steven and Theresa (Gyaky) Seper, we are certain that she went peacefully in their arms. Rose "Rosa" was born on March 16, 1929 in Unterwart, Austria. At the age of 8, she traveled with her mother from Austria to Canada by ship (The Montrose) to join her father in Bienfait, SK. The community of M&S (Manitoba & Saskatchewan) Mines became their home as her father worked tirelessly to provide a good life for his family. By then, it had grown to include 2 brothers (Joe & Fred) and a sister, Ann. At the age of 17, Rose moved back to Bienfait to work at White's Cafe. As luck... let's say "good luck" would have it, she met the dark haired, handsome, ex-military man of her dreams on July 12, 1946 at a dance at the Bienfait Union Hall. Ralph Paul Walliser walked her home that evening, and the rest is history. They were married on November 15, 1947. Their children, Lorne Steven and Theresa "Terry" Darlene were truly blessed to have had such loving and devoted parents and their granddaughter Callie Tenneille will love and cherish their memories together forever. Rose held many people very dear to her heart and through the years loved every moment together with her family and friends. She often mentioned how blessed she felt to still be so connected to her Seper family in Austria, in the U.S. and here at home, and also to the Walliser clan. She was everyone's Aunty Rose and she sincerely appreciated everyone's continued participation in her life. Whether it was a chat on the phone, a family gathering, singing in the choir, CWL, a card party, helping dad out at "Wally's" Texaco Service, working with her friends at the Estevan Woolco, gardening or preparing a delicious meal, her beautiful energy and smile was ever-present. In August of 2013 Rose moved to Wintergreene Estates in Regina. She had been riding the bus to Regina to play her mandolin with the Regina Mandolin Orchestra and is presently still a member of Friendly Folk. Yes, she played with them at Wintergreene Estates for her 90th Birthday Bash, and was overwhelmed at the 100 plus turnout of family and friends. She expressed "great love" to her bandmates and to all who attended or sent her their love on that day. She was especially proud to sing Edelweiss - an Austrian song - with the band at many performances. She would explain how the Edelweiss flower grew in her yard in Austria, which brought back wonderful memories for her. This gave her incredible joy and she was forever grateful to her Friendly Folk family for showing their love and support to her always. Rose "Rosa" traveled to Austria and to St. Louis a number of times to re-unite with family and was absolutely thrilled to have family visit her in Canada as well. She is now united again with all of her loved ones that have gone before her and is happy. We know this for a fact as the stories are coming in about her last visits to many family and friends this past week. She is happy, singing, smiling - even making pirogues with Dwayne. God bless you, Dearest Momma, Grandma, Wife, Daughter, Sister, Mother-in-Law, Sister-in-Law, Aunty, Cousin, Cherished Friend. Angel. You are truly a pure and bright, loving soul who will be forever loved and remembered. Until we meet again. Sing loudly Momma. P.S. Love U More. Due to the current COVID-19 limitations, there will not be a service at this time. If you would like to do something in remembrance of Rose, the family asks that you plant a tree or make a donation to a charity of your choice in her name. Hall Funeral Services in Estevan is caring for Rose's family - Dustin Hall, Funeral Director. Published in Estevan Mercury from Aug. 5 to Aug. 7, 2020 Louis S Goth Louis S Goth Sr., 90, of Nazareth,
Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, August 11, 2020, at St. Luke's Hospice House of Bethlehem.He was the husband of the late Veronica T (Marakovits) Goth, who passed away October 31, 2004. Born on October 14, 1929, in Szentpéterfa (Petrovo Selo/Prostrum), Hungary, he was the son of the late Frank and Jolan (Milisits) Goth. Louis worked at Kraemer Textile as a maintenance supervisor for 40 years. He was a member of Holy Family Catholic Church and also Holy Family Club, both of Nazareth. Louis is missed by son, Louis G. Goth, Jr. and wife Deborah, of Pen Argyl; grandchildren, Adam Goth, Erin Robinson and husband Jonathan, Jordan Goth and wife Adrianna; great-grandchildren, Asher, Lorelei, and Iris; sisters, Mary Goth, of Hungary, Theresa Vörös, of Canada. He was predeceased by grandson, Justin Goth. Family and friends may gather on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at the Joseph F. Reichel Funeral Home Inc. of Nazareth. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 11 a.m. at Holy Family Church of Nazareth. Entombment will take place at Holy Family Cemetery Mausoleum, of Nazareth. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, only 25 people will be allowed in the visitation room with rotations in place, face masks and social distancing are required at all times. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Louis's memory to: "St. Luke's Hospice" and mailed to: 220 Washington Park, Nazareth, PA 18064. Online condolences may be offered at www.jfreichelfuneralhome.com. . Published in The Express Times on Aug. 13, 2020 Eleanor Mary (Radacovitz) Horvath Eleanor Mary (Radacovitz) Horvath
passed on at her granddaughter Melissa’s home on July 31, 2020, in the loving care of her daughter Mary Ann Balas and
granddaughters, Michelle Rasmus, Melissa Banning and Marcy Lamb.She was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 25, 1923, but returned to her family hometown of Güttenbach (Pinkovac), Austria, when she was 2 years old with her pregnant mother and brother, while her father remained in Chicago until he passed in 1939. There she lived through the Great Depression and World War II. After World War II she repatriated back to the United States and returned to Chicago. In 1949 she married John Horvath, a former Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy who was born in Durnbach (Vincjet), Austria. Eleanor remained deeply connected to her Burgenland heritage and was part of the large Chicago Burgenland emigrant community. She also stayed involved with her large family in Güttenbach and retuned may times to visit her mother and sister until they passed and her nieces, Imelda Gludovac, Irina Zohrer of Güttenbach, and nephew Julian of Dorstetetten, Germany. In addition to her daughter and granddaughters and their spouses she is survived by her son Jim Horvath of Nederland, CO, and 7 great grandchildren. Services are delayed due to the pandemic. |
| END OF NEWSLETTER (Even good things must end!) |
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Burgenland Bunch Newsletter, copyright © 2020 by The Burgenland Bunch |
News
As
part of the celebration of the 100th year anniversary of Burgenland's founding, the Landesmuseum Burgenland is
developing an exhibition related to the migration of Burgenländers to America. Below is their requests for objects tied to
that emigration. Please consider participating.
useful for
genealogical purposes but it is fun to peruse, especially if you enjoy learning quirky stuff about your in-laws! 
The
Facebook Bunch (from Vanessa Sandhu):
Update
for book "The Burgenländer Emigration to America": Here is this month's update on purchases of the English issue of
the 3rd edition of Dr. Walter Dujmovits' book "Die Amerika-Wanderung Der Burgenländer."